Viaplay Cup final: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou eyes ‘special season’

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has his sights set on a ‘special season’ after winning the Viaplay Cup.

Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice to earn a thrilling 2-1 win over Rangers at Hampden Park.

Celtic have a nine-point lead in defending the Premiership title and are in the bottom eight of the Scottish Cup.

“You start every season hoping that it will be a special season,” said Postecoglou when asked about the prospect of a treble.

“But we’re going to enjoy tonight and it’s important that we celebrate tonight because the staff and the players, everyone at the football club has worked hard for it.

“The fans deserve to celebrate this moment too. But once we get that right, we’ll be focused on next week against St Mirren.”

Celtic visit Paisley next Sunday on league duty, the site of their only home defeat this season.

“We didn’t have many days off because we never look too far ahead and never too far back,” added Postecoglou. “That’s why we were so relentless in our approach.

“We’ve been consistent for a long time. We don’t drop our standards when it comes to our football.”

No team has ever given up a nine-point lead in the last 12 games of a top-flight season, so Postecoglou is well-positioned to double their debut campaign.

If the Australian can also win the Scottish Cup, it would be the club’s fifth treble in seven years.

Celtic controlled much of the first half at Hampden, with Kyogo clinching that dominance with the first of two close-range shots on goal in the 44th minute.

His second came just after Fashion Sakala missed a major chance to equalize and when Rangers leveled through Alfredo Morelos Postecoglou’s side were set to secure victory.

“It’s a cup final and rarely one team will dominate, although I thought we were fantastic footballingly in such a big game, with the atmosphere it was, we scored two excellent goals,” said Postecoglou.

“Thanks to Rangers, they persevered and drove a little bit more directly and we had to defend a lot and they were encouraged by their goal.

“But we have a really resilient group of players and the back four were excellent at dealing with the crosses that they had to deal with.

“We had to fight our way through a tricky period and ended up strong and probably should have taken the game but we deserved it by playing all facets of the game.”

Celtic and Rangers last met in a League Cup final in December 2019.

Captain Callum McGregor was the only player from that 1-0 win four years ago to start at Hampden, showing the extent of the overhaul under Postecoglou.

And it’s a transformation that has been almost single-handedly overseen.

“There’s only one driver at Celtic,” said former Rangers winger Neil McCann after the final. “Ange is in front – and I don’t see him stopping.

“He was a brilliant acquisition for the club. His drive for success and level of commitment was pretty incredible.”